What are the rules concerning team orders in formula one? Is a team allowed to ask a driver to move over?

Question

just wanted to know because many epople are saying that you cannot even ask a driver to move over. can you ask a driver to move over rather than demand it?

I am sure that you can, and it is not deemed cheating by the FIA.

Answer 1

No, I don't think they are allowed to even make suggestions really.

They could say "your team mate is behind you and is going faster then you" or something along those lines.

Answer 2

Team orders are illegal in F1, but a driver can choose to let his team mate through.  According to Ron Dennis all he does is inform the drivers of their relative pace, so when HK was told he was 1sec/lap slower than LH he chose to let him past.

Answer 3

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Team orders are banned.

However, Ron asking Heikki as he's coming up to his braking point "Will you be driving in Hungary?" on the radio is not.

That said, what a race and a thoroughly deserved win.

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Answer 4

Not team orders but the drivers have to keep in mind what is best for the team overall.

Answer 5

On the TV coverage, there was Ron pressing the pit-to-car radio button just before Hamilton "overtook" Kovalainen.

He probably said something like "How are you going?"

FIA stewards come down really hard on team order-like remarks on the radio, so they must have a secret code word or something. Or maybe they just simply remind the driver that his teammate  behind him is faster, and leave the driver to make up his own mind. Heikki obliged as he wanted to keep his job at McLaren.

Answer 6

Team orders are banned full stop. It came about after Rubins was told to move over and let Michael pass even though only a mechanical failure would have stopped him from winning. Michael then refused to take the top step of the podium as he knew it should have been Rubins win. he then got fined for not standing on the right step!!!

Heikki would have made his own decision to let Lewis through. he was the slower of the 2 McLarens and anyone who wasn't blind could see that it even took Lewis by surprise that he moved over so easily.

Answer 7

Team orders are actually banned by the FIA but that didn't stop Ferrari 'asking' Massa to let Schumacher pass him - it happened all the time.  Obviously, if the front driver realises that his team mate is quicker, he will let him through, but Kovi is no pushover as far as McLaren is concerned - look how he kept Lewis behind him at Silverstone, and Heidfeld is not keen about Kubica overtaking him either.  So team orders are banned but most teams leave it up to the drivers' common sense and team loyalty.

Answer 8

Team orders were banned years ago by the FIA because of Rubens and Schumi. Teams are not allowed to ask one of their drivers to move over for his team mate. However, they might be told that if their team mate is behind them and is in a better postion for championship / faster etc, they have to move aside to let him pass.

Answer 9

Yes you can request, but the driver is not compelled to move over. It completely destroys the drivers morale though.

Answer 10

If  Kovalainen moved over of his own free will then it is end off the story. Lewis dispatched, Massa & Piquet with no probs.

Answer 11

Technically Team orders are not banned per se, they just can't be made to be utterly blatant (Austria 2002). I'm sure they still continue but are used but in a much more subtle way. Look at the pass of Kovalainen by Hamilton at Silverstone, a classic piece of 'New' team orders if there ever was one. (Still made for a great race!)

F1 doesn't need the blatant collusion that we had with McLaren (Jerez 97 and Melbourne 98) and the aforementioned Ferrari debacle. If this is how team orders are to be done now, then so be it. It looks a heck of a lot better, even if it isn't in the spirit of the sport.

Answer 12

no they are not, but a team driver could 'miss a braking point' in order for it to look like an accident

Answer 13

Team orders are, rather stupidly banned after a couple of notable incidents with McLaren (Coulthard & Hakkinen), and Ferrari (Barachello and Schumacher).

Neither of these incidents had a major impact on the championship - but as a team sport (which it is), then team orders should be able to play a part in the proceedings.  Let's say it comes down the last race of the season and the McLarens are in 1st and 2nd place - but if they finish that way neither of them could win the drivers championship.  Wouldn't you expect a team to allow the 2nd place driver past?

Answer 14

Team orders are not actually banned, contrary to what most people think.

The actual ruling is Article 151c of the International Sporting Code, which makes it clear that damage to the sport can be caused by: "any fraudulent conduct or any act prejudicial to the interests of any competition or to the interests of motor sport generally."

Basically you can use team orders as long as they don't *materially* affect the result of the race.

So technically, if you assume that Hamilton would have overtaken Heikki anyway, what McLaren did in Germany wasn't against the rules.  Assuming they actually did order Heikki to move over.  Of course had Lewis had to fight Heikki he may have worn his tyres or crashed etc and therefore not won the race, but who can tell for sure what would have happened?

In all probability they told Heikki "Lewis is catching you up quickly, be careful" or somesuch which is code for "Let Lewis through".

I have no problem with team orders *under certain circumstances* as F1 is a team sport after all and it doesn't make sense for the teams not to give orders to their drivers under certain conditions.  It was obvious that Hamilton had a chance of winning and Heikki wasn't going anywhere, so no problem in my book.

However, the situation that brought this to a head, where Barrichello was ordered to let Schumacher through on the last lap of a race having led most of it on merit, was crass and brought the sport into disrepute.  This is the kind of incident that should be avoided.  Had Ferrari swapped them round at the pit-stop earlier or even told Barrichello to let Schumacher though 10 laps earlier, the issue would probably not have come up.

IMHO.

Answer 15

Team orders have been banned so you will not see bosses tell their drivers to move over during a race, but we never know what goes on behind closed doors before the races and what a team boss instructs both drivers should a certain situation arise between them on the track..